Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for estimating a lateral force of a railroad vehicle. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for estimating a lateral force applied to a bogie caused by contact between a wheel and a rail when a railroad vehicle drives in a curved section.
Discussion of the Related Art
Information on a lateral force applied to a bogie of a railroad vehicle is a factor to determine the possibility for derailment of a train. For this reason, the lateral force is one of key factors to represent the movement of a train while driving in a curved section.
In addition, the information on a lateral force is used as a key control factor for active steering control of a railroad vehicle.
Related arts for measuring a lateral force while in a curved section are disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0055110 (“Tire lateral force estimation method and device”, hereinafter referred to as “Reference 1”) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,853,412 (“Estimation of wheel rail interaction forces”, hereinafter referred to as “Reference 2”).
Reference 1 discloses a device for detecting a lateral force applied to a tire of an automotive vehicle. It relates to a method for detecting a lateral force applied to the tire, whereby an actual driving test is performed by a vehicle configured with a plurality of sensors, data on movement of the vehicle is collected, and the data is applied to a reference vehicle model and Kalman estimation to calculate a parameter of a tire model.
Reference 2 discloses a device for detecting a lateral force and a normal force applied between a wheel and a rail of a railroad vehicle. It relates to a method for detecting a lateral force, by constructing a railroad vehicle as a thirteen degree of freedom dynamics model, and calculating the lateral force and the normal force using information obtained from acceleration sensors installed in the vehicle and a lateral force and normal force model generated due to contact between a rail and a wheel.
Reference 1 discloses a method for detecting a lateral force applied to a tire of an automotive vehicle. However, the method is difficult to be directly applied to a railroad vehicle, and has an disadvantage of requiring a complex tire model.
Furthermore, the technique for detecting a lateral force using a tire model requires an accuracy of the tire model. Thus, the estimated value is dependent on accuracy of the tire model.
In addition, reference 2 discloses a method for detecting a lateral force and a normal force of a railroad vehicle. However, the method is based on a mathematical model with respect to a lateral force. Thus, the method has a disadvantage in that the estimated lateral force is dependent on accuracy of such mathematical model.